Articles by Keith Naughton

Car Prices Expected to Surge on Trump’s New Tariffs

Impending tariffs on Canada and Mexico risk driving up US car prices by as much as $12,000, further squeezing consumers and wreaking havoc across the intricate web of automotive supply lines spanning the continent. The cost to build a crossover …

Ford’s CEO to Warn Lawmakers of ‘Devastating’ Tariff Impact

Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley will travel to Washington on Wednesday to warn members of Congress that the 25% tariffs President Donald Trump has proposed on Canada and Mexico would “blow a hole” in the US auto …

Ford Hit With Near-Record $165 Million Penalty on Recall Failure

Ford Motor Co. agreed to a $165 million civil penalty to settle allegations the company failed to recall cars with defective rearview cameras in a timely manner, the second-largest fine ever levied by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Ford …

Get Too Close, Get Buzzed. Ford Tests Wearables to Keep Workers at Safe Distances.

A dozen Ford Motor Co. workers are experimenting with wearable social-distancing devices that could be deployed more widely once the carmaker reopens idled manufacturing plants. The small group of volunteers at a Ford factory in Plymouth, Michigan, are trying out …

How Test of Waymo’s Robotaxi Service in Arizona Is Going

More than 100,000 trips have been taken in robotaxis operated by Waymo, the self-driving car unit of Alphabet Inc. Now the service is expanding to iPhone users. On the first anniversary of its pilot program in Chandler, Arizona, Waymo said …

Autonomous Deliveries Will Likely Catch on Before Taxis, Says Waymo CEO

True driverless cars have arrived from Waymo, the self-driving unit of Alphabet Inc., but the company’s chief executive officer says robot ride hailing may not be the first form of automotive autonomy to take off commercially. Waymo has begun running …

Lyft Vows to Make Driverless Data Public

Lyft Inc. is making research data on self-driving technology available to the public in a bid to accelerate the development of robotic cars, which is seen as critical to the ride-hailing giant’s future viability. Billing it as the largest such …

Most Americans Continue to Be Very Afraid of Self-Driving Cars: AAA Survey

Seven in 10 Americans don’t want to go anywhere near self-driving cars. The portion of Americans who fear autonomous vehicles—71 percent in the American Automobile Association’s latest survey—is virtually unchanged from a year ago and up eight percentage points from …

Safety Sharing Economy: Toyota Offers Its Driver Assistance Technology to Competitors

Toyota Motor Corp. — in an unusual move for the cut-throat car business — has decided to share with rivals an automated safety system that uses self-driving technology to keep cars from crashing. The system, known as Guardian, will take …

Autonomous Driving Hype Now at ‘Peak Absurdity,’ Claims Auto Dealer Group Leader

The auto industry is a long way from seeing autonomous vehicles and ride-hailing companies put an end to traffic deaths and personal car ownership, according to one of the top U.S. auto dealers. “We have reached peak absurdity on this …